When you simultaneously gain muscle and lose fat, this is a process known as body recomposition. But it is not an easy process to undertake, especially since these two goals are contradictory physiological processes. Consequently, your body may resist doing them both at the same time, especially if your primary focus is on weight loss.1

For this reason, you need to develop a very detailed plan that considers both fat loss and muscle gain. Sometimes it helps to get input from a healthcare provider, dietitian, and exercise physiologist. These professionals can help formulate a plan that focuses on maintaining and building lean muscle while also eating a nutritious diet that not only helps you lose weight but also supports your muscle building efforts. Here’s a closer look at what’s involved with body recomposition.

How to Gain Muscle

When you want to gain muscle mass, you need to pay attention to how much protein you are eating as well as the types of exercises you are doing. For instance, research shows that resistance training not only increases muscle mass, but it also decreases body fat. It can even boost a person’s resting metabolic rate.2

If you’re new to resistance training, you will want to start out slow building a solid foundation that incorporates good form and joint stability. From there, you can start focusing more on your endurance and your strength. Ultimately, to build muscle you should work out at a moderate intensity with a somewhat challenging weight.3

Keep in mind, too, that it’s not feasible—or recommended—to engage in resistance training every day. Your muscles need time to rest and recover.4 On the off days, you can incorporate other types of exercises like cycling, walking, running, yoga, or even HIIT exercises.

Pay attention to your sleep schedule and minimize stress when trying to build muscle, too. Getting an appropriate amount of sleep keeps your anabolic hormone levels elevated, improving muscle recovery and growth.5 Likewise, if you’re chronically stressed, this impacts your muscle growth because your catabolic stress hormones remain elevated.6

Benefits of Muscle Gain

Having muscle is important to your overall health and well-being. Not only does it allow you to continue to do basic activities in your day-to-day life, but it also can impact your mobility and your longevity. In fact, when older adults lose muscle, or develop sarcopenia, it diminishes their quality of life and increases their risk of falls.7

Meanwhile, maintaining and building muscle offers a host of benefits. Here are some of the ways you can expect to benefit from gaining muscle:83

• Improves strength
• Increases endurance
• Reduces risk of injuries or falls
• Improves blood sugar and cholesterol
• Increases functional abilities and coordination
• Boosts heart health
• Improves bone density
• Decreases body fat

How to Safely Lose Fat

The keys to losing body fat safely include being in a calorie deficit while still eating nutritious food that will keep your body fueled and your energy levels at an optimal rate. But this is not always an easy process, especially since many people underestimate how much they eat.9

To lose body fat, you will need to focus on how much protein and carbs you are taking in as well as how much fat. Body recomposition typically requires that you decrease your carbohydrate and fat intake while increasing your protein intake.10

In fact, research shows that eating more protein during weight loss encourages your body to hold onto its lean muscle mass.10 Likewise, adding in resistance training will support your attempts to lose fat while helping you retain and build muscle.11

While everyone’s needs will be different, the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) suggests getting at least 3 grams of protein per kilogram (2 pounds) of body weight to encourage fat loss and lean muscle gain.12 But do not neglect carbohydrates and fats in the process.

Make sure you’re also eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and healthy fats like olive oil and avocado. You also can opt for fatty fish such as salmon, herring, sardines, and trout, which are not only good sources of protein but also provide healthy fats.13

As for the speed at which you lose weight, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend not losing more than one to two pounds per week. Anymore than that may not be sustainable and may interfere with your efforts to build and maintain muscle.14

Benefits of Fat Loss

Losing weight and reducing body fat improves your overall health and well-being, but it also can reduce your risk of chronic diseases. Research shows that losing as little as 5% to 10% of your weight can have a dramatic impact on your health. Here are some of the benefits you can anticipate from body fat loss:1516

• Improved blood sugar numbers
• Reduced blood pressure
• Improved cholesterol measurements
• More regular periods
• Improved joint mobility (particularly in the knees)
• Reduced risk of depression
• Decreased issues with urinary incontinence
• Improved sexual function
• Reduced risk of sleep apnea
• Improved heart health
• Reduced risk of stroke

Can You Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the Same Time?

The short answer is yes, you can do both. But, there are times when people lose body fat and lose muscle, too. When this occurs, it is often referred to as weight-loss–induced muscle loss. If this happens to you, you may experience reduced muscle function and loss of strength.17

For this reason, experts recommend accompanying your weight loss efforts with a consistent resistance training program and other forms of exercise. Balancing your nutrition with your exercise also is important. But if you are consistent, you will see results in the end.

For instance, one older study found that those who followed a cardio and resistance training program for 12 weeks lost on average 10% of their body fat while also increasing their muscle mass by almost 9%.18 Meanwhile, another study of older women who participated in a 12-week swimming program found that the participants experienced a decrease in body fat and an increase in physical strength.19

What both of these studies demonstrate is that you need to be consistent with your exercise while also following a nutritional plan that promotes weight loss. In fact, researchers in one study found that even taking a five-day break is enough for your lean muscle mass to reduce in size.20

Nutrition for Muscle Gain and Fat Loss

Protein is the most important food you can eat for muscle gain and fat loss. Not only will an adequate intake help you build new muscle but it also will prevent your body from using existing muscle as fuel during workouts. On the flip side, incorporating protein will also support your fat loss efforts by helping you feel full and satisfied—even when your overall calorie intake is lower than normal.21

Aim for a minimum of 35% of your daily calorie needs to come from protein to support weight loss.22 Meanwhile, as mentioned earlier, the ISSN suggests getting at least 3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight to encourage muscle gain and fat loss.12 For reference, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 g per kilogram of body weight, so this is a significant increase.23

To determine how much protein you need, you can divide your body weight (in pounds) by 2.2. Then multiply this number by three (which represents the 3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight). The result is your protein goal for the day in grams. Here are some quality protein sources to consider:24

• Poultry (chicken breast, chicken thighs, ground chicken, turkey, ground turkey)
• Lean meats (sirloin, filet, shoulder, top round, 90% lean ground beef)
• Fish and shellfish (salmon, tuna, mackerel)
• Eggs and egg whites
• Nuts and seeds (walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds)
• Legumes (chickpeas, lentils)
• Dairy (cottage cheese, Greek yogurt)
• Soy products (tofu, tempeh)
• Protein powders (whey and plant-based)

Of course, these protein recommendations are just general ideas. Your optimal protein intake will vary depending on your age, calorie intake, and current body weight.25

Exercises for Muscle Gain and Fat Loss

When building a workout routine, resistance training should be at the center of your plan. But because you should not engage in strength training every day, you will need to balance out this training with other types of exercises like walking, running, cycling, swimming, yoga, and more.

As for building your resistance training program, there are a couple of different approaches you can take to achieve your goals. One approach is dose-response training, which means you focus on doing a particular number of sets and repetitions of an exercise in order to induce muscle change. For instance, research shows that to promote body composition changes you should do five sets of 10 repetitions per resistance exercise to get the best results.26

You also may want to consider whether you want to do multi-joint or single-joint exercises. Research comparing single-joint exercises (like bicep curls, dumbbell fly, lateral dumbbell raise, and calf raise) and multi-joint exercises (like bench press, deadlift, squat, lat pull-down, and seated row) showed that both types decreased body fat and increased muscle mass and that there was no difference between the two. So, it may come down to personal preference when choosing what you want to do.26

There also are a multitude of exercises you can do when putting together a resistance training program. Plus, you do not have to go to a gym to workout. Some of these movements can be done with your bodyweight, a resistance band, or hand weights. Here are some of the more popular exercises people use when building a resistance training program:3

• Pushups (chest/triceps)
• Planks (chest/triceps/core)
• Crunches (core)
• Bent over row (back/biceps)
• Bicep curls (biceps)
• Tricep extensions (triceps)
• Kickbacks (triceps)
• Goblet squat (legs)
• Lunges (legs)
• Floor bridge (glutes/hamstrings)
• Deadlift (glutes/hamstrings)
• Lateral raise (shoulders)
• Front raise (shoulders)

To develop a resistance training program, choose a few exercises from the list above and perform them like a circuit. In other words, do each exercise in a row about 10 times (or reps). So, if you chose bicep curls, floor bridge, and lateral raise, you would do each exercise 10 times with about a short break in between each. Once you have completed all three exercises, this represents one set. When you are just starting out, you may want to aim for three sets. But as you get accustomed to resistance training, you should shoot for five sets with less rest in between.3

How to Track Your Progress

Most people focus on the number on the scale when they are trying to lose weight, but this may not be the best approach. Instead, track your body’s circumference measurements. In particular, you should see the most changes in your waist and stomach measurements.27

That said, there also are more formal—and highly accurate—ways to measure your body composition. These include Dual X-ray Energy Absorptiometry (DEXA), Bod Pod, and hydrostatic weighing. These machines can be found in medical facilities and exercise science laboratories and tend to be expensive. If you have access to these measurements, and your insurance covers them, they can be invaluable resources. But they are not necessary to track your progress.27

In addition to measuring your waist, arms, thighs, hips, and so on, you can also track your progress by using an app to document how much protein you are eating each day, how much water you are drinking, and whether or not you are meeting your protein and calorie goals. You also can keep a journal of your exercise habits to see how consistent you are as well as what is working and not working. This information also can help you determine where changes need to be made.27f

When to See a Healthcare Provider

If you want to change your body composition by gaining muscle and losing fat, it is important to speak with a healthcare provider for insight and direction. They can advise you on how much weight loss is best for you, identify any nutritional deficiencies, and take important measurements. They also can let you know if resistance training is safe for you given your medical history and current fitness level.

Once you are cleared by a healthcare provider, it also can be helpful to get more tailored advice and assistance from a registered dietitian and a personal trainer or exercise physiologist. A dietitian can help you put together a meal plan, make suggestions on which foods to include, give you a daily calorie goal, and help you determine how much protein, carbs, and fat you need each day.

Meanwhile, a personal trainer can help you put together a resistance training program, let you know what to do on your off days, and advise you on how much rest you need. This can be particularly helpful if you have never worked out before or if you need help identifying how much weight you should lift or whether resistance bands or bodyweight exercises are best for you.

A Quick Review

Gaining muscle and losing fat simultaneously is a process known as body recomposition. And while this is not an easy process to undertake—especially since these two goals are different physiological processes—it is one that can be accomplished with consistency and perseverance. To improve the likelihood of your success, get insight from a healthcare provider, a registered dietitian, and a personal trainer. Together they can help you develop a plan that helps you achieve your goals of muscle gain and fat loss.

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